Destiny is Hostile to Men, is it true?

Hardy belongs to Victorian Age and a famous philosopher and novelist of his age. His philosophy of life is unique. According to Hardy; there is a malignant power that controls human actions and destiny and along with it the whole universe and men are helpless in front of that power. Keeping his philosophy of life in minds, most of the critics call Hardy a pessimist, fatalist and determinist.

Hardy is a pessimist; because he believes that destiny is hostile to man, Hardy is a determinist because he believes that a strong will power may control the prevailing malignant power, Hardy is a pessimist because he always expects the worst to happen in every situation.

According to Hardy circumstances decide our fate and chances play an important role in our life and both elements decide our destiny and fate on earth. Hardy applies his philosophy of life in his famous novel The Return of the Native very successfully and proves his philosophy of life correct in practical life.

As we Clym, Eustacia, Mrs. Yeobright and Wildeve all are under the self-imposed catastrophes. Clym is responsible for his own tragic fate. He is noble by birth and leaves his own country for Paris for higher studies and returns to his native land just to educate his country fellows, especially the dwellers of Heath. But Clym married Eustacia a materialistic girl and both fail in practical life to understand each other and at the end the situation changes the whole situation at the end.

Eustacia is also responsible for her own tragic fate she married Clym in greed of going Paris while he has come back from Paris to his own country. But the circumstances change the situation and Clym loose his eyesight and his plan of opening a school on Health fails badly and he became a hedge cutter.

Eustacia started fight with Clym at this plan and on the other hand Mrs. Yeobright also started fighting to send Clym back to Paris just to collect money. Both the women opposed to open a school on Heath. As we see clearly their plan failed. Here

Sophocles says, “Everywhere in the novel human beings are crushed by a malignant power.”

Wildeve is also responsible for his own tragic fate fluctuating between the two women Eustacia and Thomasine, one is his beloved and other is his fiancée. He loved Eustacia and promise to marry Thomasine. Clym loves Heath and Mrs. Yeobright and Eustacia hat Heath but situation fails their plan and Heath creates a gulf between Clym and Eustacia and Mrs. Yeobright representing Nature and her malignant power.

In the novel The Return of Native the tragedies of the characters are due to character-weaknesses.” Actually, the forces of Heath were working against those who hate the Heath and in favor of those who love Heath. In Hardy’s novel destiny plays an important rule to bring catastrophes to turn turtle the characters’ plan working against the forces of nature around the characters.

As see Heath gives rains and thunder when Wildeve and Eustacia were planning for elopement and Heath rejects their plan knowing their intention. Eustacia and Mrs. Yeobright both die due to hating Heath living on it freely,

To sum up, Egdon Heath is a dark immemorial environment and that whose influence controls human destiny and fate. Heath symbolizes cosmic order spreading in hexagon directions and in which man looks like a tiny particle of sand. Hardy proves his philosophy of life through characters with strong arguments. Heath proves to be the enemy of Mrs. Yeobright and kills her and a friend of Clym, its chosen son who loves it with his whole heart.

Wildeve wins life game with his strong will-power. It is true nature opposes human efforts but we may conquer it with a strong will-power. In practical life passions play n important in solving ego problem but so far as nature is concerned it demands pure rational decisions to control natural forces. Otherwise natural forces will crush us mercilessly.